


the waiting city

by andsmile



Series: i've never felt alone, 'til i met you [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: DO NOT forget about the 'f' in rpf, F/M, Lowercase, mentions of s/o's, still angsty i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andsmile/pseuds/andsmile
Summary: again, FULL disclaimer before this goes up, these people are real and have real feelings and daily lives we know nothing about, and i am not claiming to know anything about them. do not forget that 'real people fiction' has a 'fiction' in it and that this is a highly fictionalized version of things we'll never know of. i'm always trying to be as respectful as possible towards the cast and their feelings.any kjmila drabble is compiled into a series now, just for organization purposes, no actual relation between them (unless you want it to have). i dedicate this to some of the girls who needed some cheering up. you = 💖
Relationships: KJ Apa/Camila Mendes
Series: i've never felt alone, 'til i met you [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030914
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	the waiting city

**Author's Note:**

> again, FULL disclaimer before this goes up, these people are real and have real feelings and daily lives we know nothing about, and i am not claiming to know anything about them. do not forget that 'real people fiction' has a 'fiction' in it and that this is a highly fictionalized version of things we'll never know of. i'm always trying to be as respectful as possible towards the cast and their feelings.
> 
> any kjmila drabble is compiled into a series now, just for organization purposes, no actual relation between them (unless you want it to have). i dedicate this to some of the girls who needed some cheering up. you = 💖

**_the waiting city_ **

**.**

KJ lights another cigarette as he watches the silence from his balcony. it's two in the morning, now.

there’s a specific moment in the middle of vancouver’s nights when everything goes silent. steady, expectant, like the entire city is holding its breath waiting for when a car rips through the quietness, or a dog barks—

—or a phone rings.

he has to wake up at seven yet he’s here, wide awake although exhausted, sore muscles and brittle bones after the never-ending hours of shooting, mr. archie andrews’ life never making it easy for him.

between inhaling and exhaling smoke that burns his lungs, he waits. she will call at any given moment, so he must stay awake.

he throws his head back and shuts his eyes until his phone finally comes to life and ruptures through the inertia. the name on his screen is not from the girl whose name starts with c he’s been waiting for, but it _still_ is a girl he’s been waiting for.

he picks up, neither of them bothering with greetings. “you ok?”

“yeah,” she breathes out. she isn’t crying, but her voice is shaky, and he knows what it means—the weight of the distance that sometimes is almost unbearable, that he feels on his own shoulders more than he would like to admit. “i just—i think we had an argument. we sorted it out because he said he didn’t want me to go to bed angry with him, but i wasn’t angry, i just—” he can feel the bitter taste in her mouth. “i’m coming over.”

he lets out a long breath. there's a big part of him that thinks she _shouldn’t_ , a small part of him that hopes she _wouldn’t,_ and a voice in the back of his head that wishes they _couldn’t_. that they weren’t trapped in that quiet snow globe. then it would probably be easier to just stay away.

“yeah,” he says, because what else is there? “i'm in the balcony.”

she hangs up without saying anything and it’s only five minutes until she’s opening his door with the key he never got back because why would he; he'd just let her in anyway. he turns around and sees her, a black sweatshirt over a pair of grey pajama pants, sock feet because why bother with shoes.

KJ’s heart flips stupidly, but what’s new, and he greets her with a grinch face when she gets to the balcony, hands shoved in the pockets of her sweatshirt. she lets out a breathy laugh, tired eyes crinkling, and he smiles a little until it fades.

“aren’t you cold?” she asks, sitting beside him and reaching out for the pack of cigarettes. he shrugs and hands her the lighter he’s been fidgeting with for the past hour.

the fire lights up her pretty features and she blows out the smoke through her lips. he craves another drag, and they indulge for a moment in that awful addiction that they should just _quit_ , their shoulders pressed together.

once he would’ve asked if she wants to talk about it—whatever argument she had with grayson that prompted her to come over at two-fourteen in the morning—but not only he doesn’t want to know, he’s also aware that she doesn’t need to discuss anything, or his half-assed advice. whatever comfort they find on each other lately is as quiet as the still town.

“is she still going to call?” she asks after a while.

he shrugs again, but says, “yeah,” for good measure.

she slowly reaches out for his right wrist, pulling up the sleeve of his sweatshirt and turning his hand in hers, running her fingertips over the berries he has inked on his skin.

“sometimes i think i should get one too,” she says, and KJ looks up at her looking down at the trace of her fingertips. “so i don’t forget that i love him.”

his heartbeat betrays him, betrays _her_ , betrays everyone as it picks up violently, pounding against his ribcage.

“did you? forget?”

she opens her mouth to say something when his phone vibrates on the table, interrupting her. she smiles briefly and squeezes his wrist for a second. “you should get that. send clara a _bisou_. i'm going to bed.”

half an hour later—shoulders even heavier with the absence or the presence, who knows—KJ goes to bed too. he climbs onto the mattress and under the covers slowly in order not to disrupt her. she has her back to him, and he doesn’t think twice before turning to his side and sliding closer to her, his nose in the black hair that she let down.

cami moves a little, cuddling closer, reaching out to get his arm and wrap it around her waist. her smaller frame always fits nicely against his.

 _if neither of us can sleep alone, let’s pretend_ , was what she told him after the first week of heavy insomnia once they were back in canada.

_pretend what?_

_that you’re with her. that i'm with him. that we’re together._

KJ plants a kiss on the side of her head and pulls her closer, eyes shutting as he allows himself to pretend that they’re together until the city starts breathing again.

.


End file.
